Corner construction for freight cars



Dec. 23, 1930. w; W|NEI 1,786,382

CORNER CONSTRUCTION FOR FREIGHT CARS Filed Feb. 12, 1930 I nuenior.

WiZZiamEZ Zm,

Patented Dec. 23, 1930- Q OFFICE 1 WILLIAM E. WINE, F TOLEDO, OHIO VCORNER GQNS'IRUC'I'I Application filed February My invention relates tonew and useful improvements in corner constructions for' freight cars,and more particularly to a top rail corner bracket, and has for anobject to provide a top rail corner bracket that will rigidly tie thetop side rail and top end rail together and, at the same time, preventthe loaded car from spilling some of the coal at the corners.

by me on April 2, 1929, Serial No. 351,968.

Still another object of the invention is to i provide a top rail cornerbracket that may be quickly andeasily fitted to a form oftoprailconstruction now in use.

In some of the full capacity type cars which are manufactured today, theside and corner rails consists of Z-bars, to which the side and endsheets are fastened, and to provide clearance for the grab irons at thetop of thecar, at the corners thereof, it has been found necessary tocut away the top leg of the Z-bar where the end toprail meets with theside top rail, that is, at the corners.

ever, when the car is loaded to its top with coal, the reduced three orfour inches in height at its several corners will permit some of thecoal to drop from these corners.

deformed Z-barsat these corners and which 7 bracket will have an insideflange that is as high as the normal height of'the top leg of the Z-barandthus prevent the coal from spilling out at these reduced corners. Atthe same time, the bracket is so formed that the I grab iron may befitted or secured on the upper surface of this bracket and its heightstill come within the limits allowed by the Master Car BuildersAssociation; i

'Still another object of the invention is to provide abracket which maybe a unitary casting or stampingthat will tightly tie the cornerstogether, allow the loading of the car to its normal height throughoutits length and, at the same time, be so arranged asto permit of 'a' grabiron directly above the ladder. n '7 With these and other objects inview, the

The inventionin its broadest aspect is somewhat similar to a co-p'endingapplication filed How- An object of my inventon, therefore, is toprovide a corner bracket that willv fit over the ON r03 rnnxcn'r clms12, 1930, 'seri aim. 427,823.-

invention consists in certain new and novel arrangements and combinationof parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out inthe claims. Referring now more particularly to the drawings showing a'preferred embodiment, Fig. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of onecorner of a car with the top rail corner bracket secured in place; I'Fig. 21' is a fragmentary side elevation of a cornerof' the car andshowing the cornerbracket and grab irons inposition;

Fig. 3' isafragmentary section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view takenon the line 44ofFig.2; y Y

' Fig. 5 is a perspective of the top rail corner bracket beforeattachment to the top rails of the car,

Referri v thereis'shownthe fragmentary portion of a corner ofacar withthe corner post 1, side. sheet 2, end sheet 3 and a top side raill.Also, as may be seen in Fig. 1, cars of the tapering ends or, in otherwords, the sides of the car at opposite ends thereof extendsliglitlyinwardly as theyapproach the respective ends of the can] Z, i i

It willvbe seen that the end side sheet 2 slopes slightly outwardly, asat 5', where it merges along the line 6 of the end side sheet, which isthe construction similar to that shown in my reissue of April 23,1929,No. Re. 17.285. In fact, the term full capacity car comes from astructure of this kind or a similarly built car;

,Glancirig at Figs. 2 and kit will be seen that'the top rail Kl isof'TZ-bar construction, with theupper leg 7, the horizontal leg orportion -8, and-the downwardly extending leg 9, In the'same way, the endtop rail 10 (see VFigQ 1) 'is, of a similar construction. However, asheretofore mentioned, instead of running the side top rail land the"end, top railjlO in their original shape downto the end post 1, it hasbeen the practice, in some ,types of cars, toy deform or cutaway the topleg 7 of the Z-bar, say-from thepoint 11 (see Figs. 1 and 2) 1 all the"Way to its,

ng now for the moment to Fig. 2,

type referred to have what, are known as 7 end and, in the same way, tocut the end rail or Z-bar 10 in a similar manner, starting say at thepoint 12. This has been done so that the necessary grab iron 13 may notextend above the normal level of the car and so that it could be readilyattached. However, when these upper legs of the Z- bars are cut away, asshown, if the car is heavily loaded, some of the coal is apt to spillfrom the corners 01', in other words, the capacity of the car issomewhat out down. To overcome this objection and to tightly secure thetop rails together, and to still provide sufficient space for the grabiron 13, I form the bracket 14, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, either inthe form of a casting or a heavy stamping, it comprising a leg 15 and amerging leg 16 extending at an angle thereto.

As may be clearly seen, there is what I term the body 17, which extendsthroughout the length of the bracket, and there is a small downwardlyextending flange 18 that follows the contour of the body throughout.

There may also be seen the upstanding flange 19, which merges withv thebody portion and is located on the inner edge of the bracket.

Glancing at the body portion 17, it will be seen that its end 20 isreduced and, in the same manner, the flange 19 follows this reduced endfrom the point 21 to the point 22, so that the front flange l8 and theoppositely located flange 19 are but slightly spaced from each other atthe point 23. There is also shown a projecting wing or end 24 providedwith a hole 25, as this end is to be riveted to the Z-bar 4, as at 26(see Fig. 2). In a like manner, the opposite end of the bracket, thatis, the body, is cut sharply, as at 27, and the flange 19 follows thecut portion, as may be seen at 28, and after extending forwardly extendsoutwardly to form the wing 29 with a small aperture 30.

This bracket is then laid over the horizontal portion 8 of the Z-bar 4and will also similarly lit the end top rail of the Z-bar 10, and thebody portion 17 of the bracket will lie flush and be supported on thehorizontal portions of the Z-bar. The wing 29 will be riveted, as at 31,to the upstanding leg of the Z-bar 10 in a manner similar to the mannerthe wing 24 is fastened to the upstanding leg 7 of the Z-bar side rail.This bracket may be riveted to the Z-bar, as at 32, as small holes areprovided in the body of the bracket, as may be seen in Fig. 5, and thegrab iron 13 with its outstanding feet 33 will also be riveted on thebody 17 of the bracket and the rivets, of course,.passing down thehorizontal portion 8 of the Z-bar. In a like manner, a similar grab iron34- will be fastened on the other leg of the bracket, as may be readilyseen and understood. a

It will be noticed that this bracket, therefore, is securely riveted tothe topside rail and the end top rail and extends over the corner postand ties the two top rails tightly together. Furthermore, the rearupstanding flange 19 will prevent the coal from spilling out over thecorners, that is, at a level normal with the normal plane of the sideand end top rails. Again, the bracket is of such width that theupstanding flange 19 far enough back of the grab iron so that it willnot in any way interfere with the hands of the brakeman climbing up theside of the car. The small outer downwardly extending flange 18 coversthe cut edge of the Z-bar, as may be clearly seen in Fig. 3, and therear flange extends in a plane parallel with the top of the top leg ofthe end and side Zbars.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have designed a special formof top rail bracket that may be either stamped or cast and, therefore,may be made in an econoniical manner, and furthermore may be quicklyapplied or riveted in position with but a minimum amount of labor.

Finally, it will be seen that it will prevent any coal from flowingout'of these otherwise reduced corners and, at the same time, per mitsthe grab iron to be quickly and readily placed in position and comewithin the limits set out by the Master Car Builders Association.

lvlany slight changes might be made without in any way departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A freight car having end side sheets sloping from the normal sides ofthe car to the corner post, end top rails and side top rails formed ofZ-bars and the end top rails and side top rails terminating short of oneanother, the upper legs of the said Z-bar rails being cut away neartheir adjacent ends, a bracket for the respective corners resting on thesaid .Z-bar, rails, and an upwardly extending flange on each bracketadapted to be secured to the upper legs of the respective adjacent Z-bartop rails.

2. A freight car having end side sheets, end sheets, and corner posts,Z-bar top side rails and Z-bar top end rails, the top leg of therespective Z-bars being cut away, corner brackets respectively securedto the end and side rails and extending between the cut-out portions ofthe top legs thereof, each of said brackets having a flange along itsinner edge and extending outwardly near its opposite ends and secured tothe said Z-bars.

3, A freight car having inwardly tapering side sheets, top side railsand top end rails, the said top side rails terminating short of the topend rails, the said rails being in the form of Z-bars and having theirupper legs cut away near their respective ends, corner brackets rivetedto thesaid rails over the relegs of the said Z-bars being cut away neartheir ends, a bracket lying on the horizontal portions of the adjacentZ-bars, said bracket 4 having an upwardly extending flange and the endof said flange riveted to the upper legs of the said Z-bars directlybeyond the said cut-away portion thereof.

5. A freight car having top side rails and top end rails formed ofZ-bars, the upper legs ofthe said Z-bars beingcut away at their ends,brackets secured on the horizontal portions of the adjacent Z-bars, saidbrackets each having an upwardly extending flange along its inner edgeand the ends of'the said flanges being offset and riveted to the saidZ-bars, and a grab iron mounted on said brackets and outwardly of thesaid inner upper flanges.

6. A top rail corner bracket for freight cars having arms merging at anangle, a

downwardly extending marginal flange on the outer edge of the. bracketand an up-' wardly extending flangeon the inner edge of V the bracketand the said inner flange extending across the bracket at its respectiveends and adapted to be secured to the top rails of a freight car. a v r7 A top rail corner'bracket for freight cars having arms merging at anangle, an upwardly extending flange starting near the outer edge of oneend of the bracket and then extending rearwardly and following the inneredge of the bracket and then outwardly to near the outer edge at theother end of the bracket, and the said ends of the flange adapted to besecured to the top rails of a freight car.

8. A corner prising a body portion adapted to rest on the end portionsof the top rails of a freight car, a downwardly extending outer'marginal flange, an upwardly extending marginal flange formed along theinner edge of the 1 bracket and offset at its opposite ends and adaptedtobe secured to the top rails of the: 7

car. V v V 9. A top rail corner bracket for freight cars comprising twoarms merging at an 7 angle to each other, a marginal downwardlyextending flange along the outer edge of the bracket and a marginalupwardly extending flange along the inner edge of the bracket, saidflange extending outwardly at its oppo site ends toward'the downwardlyextending flange, and the ends ofsaid flange being in bracket forfreight cars comthe form of wings adapted to be-secured to the top railsof the car.

10. A top rail corner bracket for freight cars having arms 'inerging atan angle to each other, said arms having angularlyshaped ends, anupwardly extending flange extending completely about the inner edge ofthe bracket and following the angularlyshaped ends;

11. A top rail corner bracket for freight cars having arms merging at anangle, a

downwardly extendingmarginal flange along y the outer edge of thebracket, an upwardly extending flange 011 the inner edge of the bracket,the inner marginal flange being offset near its opposite ends andterminating in wings, and said wings adapted to be secured to the toprails of a freight car.

In testimony whereofI affix my signature.

WILLIAM E. WINE.

